I'll Never Have The Moon
by jmfossil
Summary: The journey is the reward.


_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own any of the characters in the Pokemon universe; they go to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri._

**A/N:** Sequel! Team Crackfecta fics dance the line between true crack and legitimate story-telling. Basic knowledge of Pokémon is required. This takes place five months after the events of _An Early Spring _so I suggest you read that before this. Enjoy.

* * *

**I'll Never Have The Moon**

_Love is like the moon: when it does not increase, it decreases.  
-Ségur_

"Steven!"

Dropping his bags unceremoniously on the S.S. Aqua pier, Jon leaped into Steven's arms, the two of them spinning in a Cinderfella-and-Prince-Charming way, Jon's feet high off the ground. When Jon was back on the wooden boardwalk, he gave the taller boy a kiss, his arms around Steven's neck. Their lips parted and Jon laughed with happiness.

"Ah, my gorgeous girl!"

Jon giggled bashfully and said, "Steve, not in front of Jess and Ci."

"Not you, Juliet."

Jess came up behind them, an amused expression on her face, pulling her olive stroller bag along. Perched on top of her luggage was her Corsola. Pink and white and beaming, she chirped jubilantly as she leaped off the bag and ran across the wooden planks to meet up with Steven's Aron who was purring contentedly at his feet. Jess brushed her hair out of her face before giving Steven a hug.

"Ready to wow the professors tonight at the Center?" asked Steven cheerily.

Jess smirked. "It's not my first time at the rodeo."

Scoffing, Jon remarked, "You make it sound like you're turning tricks at Goldenrod tonight."

As Steven laughed, Jess slapped Jon on the shoulder playfully. "Speaking of Goldenrod," began Steven to Jess and Jon's amusement, "where _is_ Ciarra?"

On cue, Ciarra staggered over to the three of them, dragging a bulging knapsack before collapsing. Meekly, she crawled closer to the edge of the boardwalk and made retching noises as the rest of the party averted their eyes. Ciarra's Bidoof zapped out of his Pokéball and aided his trainer by pulling back her hair.

"Right here…" Ciarra groaned.

Steven winced. "How was the trip, then?"

"FUCKING HORRIBLE." More retching.

"Bi-doof!"

Her arms folded, Jess teased, "She can beat the entire Johto League in less than five months, but she can barely handle six hours on a Seagallop Ferry." Ciarra let out a disapproving grunt. Jess went on, "Cruise ship, sure. Hi-Speed 9? Not so much."

Confused, Steven repeated, "Hi-Speed 9? At that rate, you guys should have arrived at least an hour ago."

"Right?" Aron found its way into Jon's hair which made a perfect spiky nest. "But apparently the waves got really wild when we passed Hoenn border inspection. So the sea kind of impeded our sail."

"It wasn't overly wonderful or unpleasant," continued Jess, who took her Corsola into her arms. In a lower voice and leaning closer, she added, "You should have seen Ciarra. She was livid. At least it took her mind off of the break-up."

"I heard that!"

Ciarra got her bearings back and was now standing upright, Bidoof skittering around her feet before she recalled him into his Pokéball. Her hair was now in a high ponytail, away from her slightly green face. "Ugh, we are not riding anything like that again…"

"Ready to cross the ocean blue?" Ciarra gave a spasm of revulsion, Jess and Jon glaring at Steven. He conceded, "Maybe in a little while."

"So you folks cool with a battle then?"

The four of them turned around to see a pair of trainers approaching. They appeared to have just disembarked from the Seagallop Ferry and they looked ready to battle from being cramped in a ship for six hours. One of the trainers was a girl, poised with a Pokéball in her hand, her black hair going way past her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a black tank top with a flowery scarf around her neck. The other was a blonde, also in a black shirt though with glasses and red sweatpants emblazoned with the initials 'USC'.

"Elissa, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, they _are_--"

"Come on, Keeley," insisted the girl with the scarf. "I'm sure the Grand Festival Master and Hoenn Con ranker can spare us some time for a match." She tossed her Pokéball into the air, releasing a beam of red light that materialized into a peppy Squirtle.

"Squirtle-squirt!"

Jon pointed between himself and a greenish Ciarra. "Us?"

"Yeah," rejoined the girl called Elissa. "Whaddaya say?"

Steven stepped forward. "She's too sick to battle. That wouldn't be fair," smiled Steven. As though to affirm his statement, Ciarra swayed on the spot, threatening to spill all over the pier. Elissa's Squirtle backed away. "Jon and I can battle you guys."

However, the other girl, already reluctant to begin with, seemed to grow even more hesitant. "But… you're Steven Stone," Keeley asserted almost reverently.

Then Jess stepped forward, her Corsola excitedly jumping down and taking an attack position. "I'll double battle," Jess stated simply. "That way Steven can regulate. Would that be better?"

Keeley let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Who are you?" asked Elissa, a hand on her hip.

"Jess. And you know Jon, I see." Jon waved, Aron still on his head. "And you two are?"

The girl adjusted the floral scarf around her neck. "That's Keeley. I'm Elissa. We're from the University of Saffron City." She spoke with an air of self-importance. "We were invited to the lecture at the Mossdeep Space Center tonight."

"This is Lilycove…" Keeley observed, quite unsure of herself, "not Mossdeep."

Elissa gave Keeley a look. "I told you, we're flying over there on Pidgeot later."

Smirking, Jess shrugged. "That's better than taking a Seagallop again." Ciarra fell to the side of the boardwalk as Bidoof escaped from his Pokéball and hurried over to pull back Ciarra's hair once more.

"Go, Kingdra!"

"Empoleon, go!"

Jon's Empoleon and Keeley's Kingdra joined Jess's Corsola and Elissa's Squirtle in the water, below the boardwalk. Each Pokémon was ready to battle. Corsola and Squirtle were floating joyfully in the cold ocean while Kingdra and Empoleon locked glares. The waters were indeed turbulent and to whose advantage it would lead was unclear.

"Now!" exclaimed Keeley, the first to move. "Kingdra, use Dive!"

"Squirtle, Skull Bash attack!"

Kingdra dived down below the ravaging waves as Squirtle withdrew into its shell and launched itself with a small boom, skimming the surface of the water towards Corsola.

Ready to go, Jess ordered, "Corsola! Harden!" At her trainer's command, Corsola gleamed for a moment and her skin became tough as steel. Squirtle rammed into the Coral Pokémon with a loud crash, but Corsola was undamaged, leaving Squirtle to fall back into the water.

"Ice Beam, Empoleon!" The Emperor Pokémon obeyed Jon's call and released a light blue ball in front of its mouth, thin icy beams erupting out of the sphere and creating floating disks of ice on the tumultuous waves. "Now, quick! Get on them!"

Empoleon barely slid onto a particularly wide plane of ice before Kingdra burst from the waters below in an attempt to tackle Jon's Pokémon. "Smokescreen, Kingdra!" yelled Keeley from the pier. Immediately, Kingdra shot out powerful jets of pitch black smoke from its snout, obscuring everyone's vision.

"Great, I can't see a thing." Elissa frowned at her friend.

Keeley rolled her eyes. "Just go with it!"

"Jon, have Empoleon watch out." Squinting to try and see through the smoke, Jess called, "Spike Cannon, Corsola!"

Simultaneously, Jon nodded at Jess and shouted, "Empoleon, use Protect!"

In the great cloud of smog, Corsola started to glow a faint pink and with a battle cry, ejected several sharp spikes into the air. A groan from Squirtle told the trainers that the attack hit one target and a splash into the water signaled that Kingdra went for another dive. There was the sound of metal deflecting attacks and Jon took that as his cue that Empoleon was good to go.

"Good job, Empoleon! Okay, use Whirlpool!"

A cerulean shine engulfed Empoleon and he released a roar, the wild water about them gradually speeding up into a circular rotation, forming a vortex of water, sucking in the icy platforms. Before it was swallowed by the cycle, Squirtle leaped off its slab of ice and conducted a Rapid Spin attack in mid-air. The velocity of its spin seemed to defy physics as it remained aloft in the air, blowing away Kingdra's smokescreen.

"Nice one, Squirtle!" encouraged Elissa. "Keep going!"

But the whirlpool was still going strong. Corsola and Empoleon were about to be pulled in when their trainers shouted orders from yards away.

"Empoleon, Aqua Jet!"

"Corsola, Aqua Ring!"

Simultaneously, Corsola and Empoleon surrounded themselves in water. Seawater began to orbit Corsola like the rings of Saturn, giving her a magnificent glow of an azure hue. Gradually, more and more water surrounded her and she slowly floated into the air, away from the danger of Empoleon's underwater tempest. The penguin-like Pokémon took to the air as well. It rocketed off its ice platform and, like a liquid torpedo, hit the airborne Squirtle with a splash.

The whirlpool subsided as Squirtle crashed into the water and, alongside Kingdra, caught up in the twister underwater, the two Water Pokémon were knocked out, stars in their eyes, floating unconscious in the water. Empoleon joined Corsola in her ring of water, healing them both to full health, suspended in the air like a victorious god and goddess.

"That's it!" declared Steven, Jess's League-issued rulebook in hand. "Kingdra and Squirtle are no longer able to battle. Jon and Jess win!"

Jon and Jess high-fived while Elissa scowled and recalled her Squirtle back into its Pokéball. Keeley, however, was mesmerized by the two floating Pokémon. "Wow, I didn't know Aqua Ring could do that…"

"Great job, guys," offered Ciarra wearily, clutching onto Steven for support. Jess and Jon recalled their Pokémon and turned to the two girls. Elissa was thoroughly displeased and Keeley smiled politely.

"Good battle, huh, Elissa?"

Elissa barely cracked a grin, her disappointment obvious. "Yeah, sure. We could have done better if the water wasn't so rapid. We probably would have won if it wasn't for that."

Keeley only rolled her eyes at Elissa as she dragged her away in the direction of the Cove Lily Motel, waving goodbye to Jon, Jess, Ciarra, and Steven.

"That's not the last we've seen of them," noted Jess, running a hand through her hair. "They'll be at the lecture tonight."

"Sucks for them that they didn't know they were battling the speaker." Jon patted her on the back. "That was awesome work, Jess."

Jess thanked him. "So shall we? With these waters, we'll need all the time we can get. I mean, we have to settle in, check in at the Space Center--"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!" Ciarra stood up straight, regaining her posture. "What do you mean? You're not saying that we're transiting to Mossdeep… by _boat_?"

"Of course not!" waved off Jon, much to Ciarra's relief. "We're taking Steven's yacht."

Ciarra gave another involuntary spasm. "I thought you had a private helicopter! Or, like… jet, or something!"

"Well, yeah. But they're both in the shop."

"Uh-uh, no," refused an obdurate Ciarra. "I am staying here. On land. Dry, stable, unmoving land."

Jess asked, "Then what are you going to do to get there? The other transit ferry doesn't leave an hour before my presentation. You can't possibly make it in time."

"I'll fly!" spouted Ciarra.

"Fly?" repeated Jon and Jess.

Ciarra nodded. "You heard what Elissa and Keeley said! They were gonna fly on a Pidgeot. If they're taking a Pidgeot, I can totally take Charizard. It won't be a long flight."

Still unsure, Jess looked at Jon. He didn't seem to mind, as long as it was what Ciarra wanted. "So you'll probably get there ahead of us," he remarked.

Shaking her head, Ciarra grinned, though there was still a slight green tinge to her features. "I'll go to the Lilycove Department Store. I still need a dress for the event anyway. And besides, I am in serious need of retail therapy."

Jess was about to argue, but Jon cut her off saying, "We'll be at Steven's place. Meet us there, okay?" Ciarra nodded, hugging him, then a concerned Jess.

"I'll be fine, Little J. Don't worry about me."

Steven pulled out a card from his pocket, wrote his address on it, and handed it to Ciarra. "Just in case."

"'_2342 Wailmer Way_'?" Ciarra dictated, amused.

"The property's right above Sunset; the value has nowhere to go but up."

A little over an hour later, Ciarra was in the Lilycove Department Store, several shopping bags dangling from her arms, one of which contained a beautiful ivory cocktail dress for the event at the Mossdeep Space Center. Shopping definitely did the trainer a world of good. All the color had returned to her face. Hankering for a drink, Ciarra leisurely strolled over to a nearby JigglyJuice for a smoothie.

"Hi, welcome to JigglyJuice!" came the zealous greeting of the teen behind the counter. "How are _you_ today?"

Ciarra replied, "I'm good."

"Me too!" The girl exuded energy. Her pep was evenly matched with her outfit. She was in a hot neon pink shirt with a highlighter green apron which bore the JigglyJuice logo on the front. Even her hair went with the color scheme: she was blonde with hot pink streaks. "What can I get for you?"

"I'll have a Razz Berry Blitz, please."

"And what free boost would you like with that?" The girl was a buzzing ball of fuchsia and lime energy.

Ciarra shifted some of the purchases in her hands. "Can I get a Chansey Charge?"

"You most definitely can!" She took a cup from a stack next to the cash register and near-shouted, "May I please have your name?"

"Ciarra."

"Now is that with an 'S' and an 'A'?"

"A '_C_' and an 'A'."

"Perfect!" She tossed over the cup to an excited Ambipom, also wearing the blinding lime apron. It caught the cup with one of its two tails and started to prepare Ciarra's order. "Would you like anything else with that? Perhaps a JigglyJuice soundtrack, planner, or journal? We got them in just last week!"

The girl motioned to the displayed notebooks in front of the register. There was a planner and a journal, both the same price, both equally adorable and useful. But Ciarra's eyes fell on the cover of the soundtrack. It said, in bold, pink letters, '_JIGGLYJUICE JAMS! THAT EXTRA BOOST YOU NEED!_'. The illustration was a beautiful, scarlet electric guitar.

"_Brad, where is this going?"_

_Brad paused playing his guitar and turned his face to look at Ciarra directly in the eyes, across the freshly burning campfire. The flickering fire was casting shivering shadows on Brad's face. His hair was away from his eyes, his rich brown eyes meeting her own. "Where is what going?"_

"_You, me… us."_

_Looking back down at his guitar, he struck a chord on his prized instrument. His Whismur was sleeping soundly beside him, snoring lightly. "That's the adventure. Don't you want to not know?"_

_Unsure of what to say, Ciarra stammered, "All I know is that I just want a life that's… that's scripted, and… and planned."_

_The guitarist let out a hollow laugh. "You don't get it do you?"_

"_What is there to understand, Brad?" Ciarra was almost on the edge. Her temper was already thin, and this man was testing her to her absolute limits. "Without a destination…what's the journey's reward? What's there at the end?"_

"_You never know. And you don't have to. The journey is the reward." Brad struck another chord._

"Ciarra?"

"What?" Ciarra snapped out of it.

The JigglyJuice girl was giving her a strange look, as though Ciarra was a Slugma that was crawling into the ocean. Her voice wasn't as upbeat now. "Would you like anything else? Like a journal or a planner?" She gestured again to the paper products before her.

"I'll… I'll take the planner."

"Awesome!" The grating, energetic tone of the girl's voice returned. She seized a planner from the display and threw it into a bag. "Your total comes to--"

"Here." Ciarra threw her Johto Express credit card at the girl who caught it in one hand.

She immediately swiped it on the register and tossed it back to Ciarra. "J-Ex. Cool one. Nice interest rates."

Ciarra signed on the keypad in front of her before she got her receipt. She thrust her new planner into one of her shopping bags and waited for her drink at a table. As Ciarra attempted to mentally collect herself, she overheard two teenage boys talking in a window booth nearby. Even though Ciarra tried to block them out, their voices were too loud and obnoxious to be ignored.

"So how was your trip last week, bro?"

"Dude, it was hella rough. The waves were so friggin' intense.

"Yeah, man?"

"Totally. From Vermillion to here, it was un-smooth sailing, brah."

"How about that meteor shower…"

Ciarra furrowed her brow. Apparently, the rocky waters of Hoenn had been around for a while and that the situation even extended all the way to Kanto. She paid enough attention to Jess's rants about geology and oceanography to know that the waters around Vermillion were normally calm, much like Snowpoint Sea in Sinnoh. Ciarra fished around in her pockets, coming up with her PokéNav. She scrolled through her contacts to 'Jon' before collecting her drink from another exuberant JigglyJuice employee.

"Have an awesome-blossom-fantastic-fabulous day!"

Jon and Jess were relaxing on fabric deck chairs on the sun deck of Steven's smaller luxury yacht, The White Marble, basking in the warmth of the Hoenn sun. Jess was currently wearing a purple one-piece bathing suit with a floral yellow wraparound at her waist, oversized sunglasses, and a big, floppy, straw sun hat. Jon opted for aviators and black swim trunks that belonged to Steven. Both were drinking flutes of champagne which they toasted together. The rough sea couldn't bother them now.

"To our professor-to-be," declared Jon. "Congrats, J."

Clink. "Thanks, J," returned Jess after sipping her champagne. "Mmm, your boyfriend did good with this one. Nice and light."

Jon drank too. "Ah, that's the stuff." He took a cube of cheese from the silver platter on the small table between them and popped it into his mouth. "So you excited? Getting to play with the big boys with the big names tonight?"

Jess adjusted her sun hat and replied, "Excited, yes. Though I'm not as eager to meet this other lecturing fellow from Canalave College."

"That David guy?" Jon had another sip. "Why?"

Jess brushed a lock of her hair away and tucked it into her hat. "He's a male Evolution Sciences major. Sparsely populated field of study… Their kind don't know how to deal with mine."

"Exogeologists?"

"Women."

After a roar of laughter, Jon offered, "Steve said that David was eager to meet you though."

"Precisely why I need as much alcohol I can get before I meet him." Jess downed the rest of her glass. Pouring herself another, she queried, "Where _is_ your boyfriend, anyway?"

Leaning back in the deck chair and closing his eyes, Jon retorted, "He's in the cockpit."

"That's on airplanes, genius."

"No, really, cock--" Jon's new PokéVu began to vibrate and ring, competing with Jess's giggles. Answering the call, Jon put the device on speakerphone. "Hey, Ci. You're missing out. We're tanning."

Jess added, "With champagne."

"You guys suck," came Ciarra's voice on the speaker. "Here I am drinking thousand calorie JigglyJuice, and you're off tanning on a yacht! Some friends."

When their hilarity subsided, Jess responded, "Well, you just _had_ to stay and go shopping. Your dress for tonight had better be worth it."

"So what's up, Ci? Ready for take-off on Air Charizard?"

"Just about. But guys, serious business time," started Ciarra, "I just heard a couple of guys talk about how the waters even in Vermillion were freakily rowdy since last week. I'm not going insane, that's weird, right?"

"No, you're right," affirmed Jess. "Vermillion Bay doesn't even have waves big enough for surfing. Jon, grab my laptop."

"Way ahead of you." Jon had retrieved Jess's tote when Ciarra talked about serious business. He put on a pair of prescription-less black emo-esque glasses that he pulled out of his navy duffel bag.

Jess put on an identical pair that she came up with from her tote after powering up her computer. "You said since last week, Ciarra? 'Cause there was a meteor shower over Kanto recently. And it wasn't just the usual Mount Moon meteor shower. Apparently, it was all over the region…"

Ciarra asked, "When was it exactly?"

"After you beat Pryce at Mahogany. When we were up at Lake of Rage, I think…"

Immediately, Jon poked Jess in the shoulder and made an erratic slashing motion at his own throat, mouthing feverishly, '_Don't talk about it!_'

It was only then that Jess remembered and promptly smacked a hand to her forehead. She looked at Jon with fretful eyes through her pair of Serious Business Glasses, anxious for Ciarra's reaction which did not come.

There was a pause. "You there, Ci?"

"CAN YOU HEAR DIS?!"

"I CAN HEAR DIS!" yelled Ci back at Jon through his PokéVu, the rustling of paper and the zipping of zippers heard over the speakers. "I can't find my serious business glasses!"

Jess was relieved that Ciarra didn't catch her slip-up. "They might be in your knap. It's stowed on the yacht."

"I told you! Never go anywhere without them!"

"Shut up, Jon!"

Jess pulled up some news articles online. "Well, there are some accounts of meteorites here in North Hoenn, but that's nothing out of the ordinary."

Jon pointed at something on the screen. "What about this one?"

"Yeah, '_Kanto Meteor Shower Pleases Citizens, Puzzles Scientists_'." Jess typed another search in a new window. "Oh, look. There we go. '_Tempestuous Tides Trouble Fishermen at Sea_'. Hmm, both reports were dated just a day apart… yup, about a week ago."

"This isn't another igneous situation, is it?" Ciarra groaned, static hissing on the PokéVu.

"You have to admit, Ci," asserted Jon, "Moltres sighting? That was pretty epic."

Jess bit her lip. "Yeah, but this is different."

"It's still rocks."

"But these rocks don't just cause the tides to change. They're only outer space rocks, really. The only outer space rock that could affect us is the moon." Closing her laptop, Jess leaned over Jon's PokéVu. "Even if there _is_ a connection, we can't do anything about it. At least, you know, not right now."

Ciarra sighed. "Okay, cool. I'll get ready to leave. Call me when you guys get there?"

Jon nodded. Jess snorted at Jon who then realized Ciarra couldn't see him. He acknowledged, "Sure. Call us when you get there?"

"Sure."

"Have a safe flight!"

And Ciarra did.

Three or four glossy shopping bags were dangling from Charizard's neck with Ciarra riding on his back. His great, leathery orange and green wings matched the ones on Ciarra's Charizard hoodie, but the real things were flapping of their own accord. The fabric wings Ciarra was wearing were flapping because of the frigid wind at their altitude.

"Charizard? Let's go a little lower."

With a grunt, Charizard complied and they descended slowly below a few clouds, revealing nothing but sea and sea and more sea. There were a few islands in sight, however none of them looked like the bustling city that was Mossdeep. Squinting at the horizon, there was nothing more except the expanse of the turbulent ocean below. Ciarra wished to pull out her PokéNav to check the map, but she feared strong gusts of wind would blow the device out of her grip. She scouted the waters beneath them for the nearest patch of land, and within minutes, she and Charizard touched down.

"Now let's see… If that's north," Ciarra began mumbling to herself.

As she discerned which direction was southeast, Charizard took the shopping bags off his neck and resigned to carry them for Ciarra. He was just distracted by a flock of Wingull and Pelipper flying past when something rolling bumped into his foot. Looking down, Charizard grunted at his trainer.

"What is it, Char-- oh, hello! A Spheal!"

Ciarra remembered Jon's sister Addison having one, and this particular Spheal was just as cute. Spherical, adorable, and blue, it rolled around in circles in the sand squealing, "Spheal! Spheal!" Ciarra laughed and put away her PokéNav, too entertained by the cute Pokémon to concentrate.

"There you are, Spheal!"

Ciarra swung around to see a boy no older than her emerge out of a cavern entrance, running over to her, Charizard, and the playful Spheal who waddled over to meet its trainer. His features were strong, though his eyes were somewhat delicate and shy, contrasting with his brawnier physique. Clad in a thick black faux-fur-lined hoodie, a grey wife beater, and a pair of artfully baggy jeans, he looked quite warm. Spheal rolled into his arms and a look of relief washed over his face. Nevertheless, his look turned stony and cold when he caught sight of Ciarra and Charizard.

"Umm… hey," Ciarra greeted awkwardly.

It appeared as though it took a substantial amount of energy for him to reply with, "…Hi."

"I'm Ciarra." She put out a hand for him to shake.

He shook it. His touch was cold. "Liam. Frost."

Ciarra blinked for a moment. "'Frost'?" she reiterated. She had heard that name before, except she couldn't recall when or where or why.

"Did I stutter?" he uttered coldly. "Yeah. Frost."

She instantly frowned. Charizard snorted, his tail fire growing slightly, though his appearance was dampened by the shopping bag from JigglyJuice. Noticing the small beaded pouch Liam was carrying in one hand, Ciarra asked, "What've you got there?"

"Shoal Salts," was his simple monotone answer. Spheal yelped happily in his other arm and started to clap in a rhythmic fashion, almost like it was clapping to the tune of a song.

Ciarra's eyebrows perked up. "Ooh! You're making a Shell Bell, aren't you?"

Liam rolled his eyes and retorted sarcastically, "What else can I do with it?"

Brushing off his attitude, Ciarra said, "Well, come on! If we want to get enough to make us both a Shell Bell each, we'll need more." She recalled Charizard into his Pokéball and tugged her own shopping along. Liam scoffed and turned away, walking back to the cave's mouth.

"You'll leave this island if you know what's best for you, Ciarra."

Taken aback by the familiar use of her name, Ciarra hesitated before questioning Liam, "Why? …Where are we?"

"Shoal Cave."

"Are you absolutely positive, Professor Monday?"

Jess was in a laboratory wearing a white lab coat, currently observing a curiously sparkling stone, dark as the night sky, big as a four-door car. The rock was on a wide, circular platform with an older man scrutinizing the object as closely as Jess. He was graying on top but his wrinkles captured the smiles of a youth past.

"Absolutely positive, Jessica."

Upon docking at the Mossdeep Marina, Jess, Jon, and Steven were chauffeured to Steven's summer home in West Moss above Sunset Boulevard. As they settled in, Jess received a call from Professor Monday of the Mossdeep Space Center, inviting her to have a look at a meteorite sent in by the Pewter Museum of Science from Pewter City in Kanto for study.

"This is a _meteorite_ that fell into Vermillion Bay?"

"Retrieved two days after the shower last week." Professor Monday set aside his magnifying glass in his own lab coat. "I assume you've read the reports?"

Jess nodded. She then looked down at the information chart of the rock on a clipboard, flipping through the papers with a wrinkled nose. "But… the make-up of this thing… No iron in them at all, ruling out anything in the iron-class. No chondrules, amino acids, presolar grains, so it's definitely not a chondrite…"

"Is it igneous?" Jon was looking over Jess's shoulder.

She gave him an impressed look and responded, "No, the composition isn't similar to terrestrial mafic igneous rocks either, but thank you, Jon. Good suggestion."

Monday smiled at him as Jon appeared as if he couldn't believe he was on the proper track. The professor said to Jess, "Seeing as you're the exogeologist, Jessica, we thought you might be able to help us identify it."

"But that's the thing." Jess sighed in frustration. "All this data, assuming it's correct, doesn't point towards it being from outer space. I've never encountered a substance quite like this…" The dark gleam of the subject caught her eye. "Except… a Moon Stone?"

"Moon Stone!" exclaimed a voice.

A tall boy, a hair taller than Steven, strode into the laboratory, shrugging on a white coat identical to Jess's. His brown hair stuck out in every single direction and his jaw was clenched tight in excitement. Underneath the lab coat was an impossibly slim chocolate pinstripe suit on an impossibly slim boy. He was wearing blue hi-tops which made Jess laugh on the inside.

The teen rattled off in a very speedy, knowing voice, "Often found attached to wild Lunatone and used to make several species of Pokémon evolve at the slightest touch! They can also be found on Mondays in Mount Moon's Relaxation Square when you smash the rock that the wild Clefairy dance around at night. Though that's outlawed now… _well_, people still do it… _well_, maybe it's just me… _well_, it was just the once…"

Professor Monday chuckled and introduced them to each other. "Jessica Tennant, meet David Smith. An Evolution Sciences major at Canalave College and the other speaker at tonight's event. I believe Steven mentioned him to you?"

"Pleasure!" David took Jess's hand without any offer between them and shook it energetically.

Jess gave him a courteous nod, but she instantly retracted her hand. "Do you have any ideas on this apparent meteorite, Mister Smith?"

"Ah, but you said you don't think it's a meteorite." The older boy added, "And it's David. I insist."

"Then what do you propose we call it… David?"

"A stone, perhaps?" David punctuated his suggestion by putting on a pair of black eyeglasses, extremely similar to Ciarra, Jon and Jess's own.

Jon was so in shock that he almost dropped his PokéVu. "Are those--"

"--Serious Business Glasses," said Jess, almost in a whisper.

David looked at the two of them, a bemused expression on his face. "Something wrong?"

Clearing her throat, Jess answered, "Nothing. But yes, 'stone' would be a better suited term and… I'm sorry. Are those… your glasses."

"Oh these!" David took them off and waved them around as he spoke. "Well, they haven't got a grade on them, if that's what you were wondering. I think they just make me look clever." He clamped his jaw, his molars making a sound.

"Yes, well. Got any theories, David?" Jess asked.

'_IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD WE LIVE IN! IT'S A WHOLE NEW WAY TO SEE!'_

Opening his mouth to speak, David was cut off by music that erupted from Jon's PokéVu. He flushed slightly, excusing himself to take the call over the chorus of _Pokémon Johto (Movie Version)_. "Hello? Oh hey, Ci…"

"You were saying?"

"I think it's a Moon Stone."

Jess blinked a few times before laughing. "A Moon Stone?" she restated. "You're saying that a Moon Stone fell from the sky? And that the entire team of scientists here at the Center didn't even come up with that?" She gave Professor Monday a respectful nod.

"Truth be told, Jessica," began Monday, "I… actually hadn't considered the possibility, but now that David mentioned it, it's quite possible."

David nodded. "Think about it. Where exactly do Moon Stones come from? Dusk Stones, Dawn Stones, Water Stones, they're all rocks transfigured by exposure to a certain type of elemental essence, so that should apply to all types of evolutionary stones, right?"

Processing the information carefully, Jess replied with a cautious, "Yes…"

"Good, now, Moon Stone: what would be a representative? The moon, maybe? Outer space radiation? So what's there to imply that Moon Stones aren't meteorites and-or fragments of meteorites here on our planet that were subject to transfiguration among the stars?"

As much as she hated to admit it, it was a valid idea. However, Jess was determined not to let someone beat her at this battle of the brains, regarding her own specialty, no less. "Creative hypothesis, but can you prove it, David?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes!" David searched his pockets and retrieved a Pokéball which released a calm and collected Nidorino. It let out the faintest of a growl and gazed up at his beaming trainer. "I don't know if I'm right or not, but that's the fun, isn't it?"

"_You never know. And you don't have to. The journey is the reward." Brad struck another chord._

_The moon was full. It hung in the air like a golden orb of ghostly white light. The quick breeze blowing against the canopy of leaves above them made the spots of light the mood shed on the ground shift. Lake of Rage was, contrary to its name, calm and serene. Only the wind rode on its surface, rippling the moon's reflection upon the water._

"_You're different, Ciarra."_

_She was almost past her breaking point. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

_Brad shrugged. "You never wanted order… you always lived in the moment. You went with the flow."_

"_I've… I've changed," stuttered Ciarra, losing the battle. "I grew up. That's all."_

_He shook his head. "You want so many things. But you never--"_

_Cutting him off, Ciarra exclaimed with something between a scream and a sob, "I have goals, Brad!"_

"_I know that." Brad didn't look at her. "And I want to help you. Give you something."_

_Ciarra's eyes were betraying her. She could feel the salty tears well up before her eyes. With cloudy vision, she addressed her boyfriend with a soft-spoken question. "What can you give me?"_

"You really don't remember me, do you?"

Ciarra turned on her heel to look at Liam. She was about to collect a smattering of Shoal Salts in a tide pool near a large, sparkling boulder, dark as the night sky, when Liam spoke in a sharp voice after almost thirty minutes of silent gathering. He was standing in a shallow pool of water, his beaded bag nearly full in his hand.

"Am I supposed to?" replied Ciarra, unsure of how to answer.

Liam approached her, saying, "Was Cherrygrove that bad that you had to delete it from your memories?"

Ciarra's jaw almost dropped. She gazed deeply into his delicate, shy eyes and said, "Liam Seaver? Liam Seaver, is that you?"

"Yeah, well, that was my last name before my mom got remarried."

Torn between wanting to engulf him in a huge bear hug and not doing so at all, Ciarra ended up hitting him square in the shoulder in that weak playful manner. "Oh… hey! Liam! How, uh, how have you been? I haven't seen you in…"

"Five years." Liam's face was blank. "You left Cherrygrove for your big wonderful Pokémon adventure about five years ago."

"Yeah, well, that big wonderful Pokémon adventure made me a happier person." Ciarra didn't like revisiting old memories of her childhood at all. She tried to close her mind to it, but Liam's presence made doing so almost impossible.

"…Good job on the Sinnoh League last year."

Ciarra almost cracked a grin. "Thanks. Um, what have you been up to since Cherrygrove?"

Liam walked past Ciarra to claim the Shoal Salts that she was headed for. As he collected, he narrated, "Moved to Rustboro City when my mom got married."

That's where she had heard the name. "You invited me to the wedding."

"And you never came." Liam stood back up but did not face her. He apparently found the extremely shiny rock much more riveting. "My mother said that I should invite 'my little girlfriend'."

Ciarra's cheeks colored instantly. "Did she ever find out?"

"That you took my V-card? Yeah, she did." Liam turned around, but he now bore the smallest of smiles. "The PokéMart has surveillance cams everywhere."

They shared a quiet laugh that echoed throughout the cave. Then Ciarra remembered something. "You were my first too, you know."

Liam didn't say anything.

"I lied to you. I never slept with that Brendan kid." Ciarra tucked a lock of hair behind her ear awkwardly. "So, besides Rustboro, what's been up with you? Obviously, you're a trainer now too--"

"I never got over you."

Ciarra's throat went dry. She didn't have the courage to tell Liam that she did, so instead, she cleared her throat and said, walking to the rocky tunnel that they came through, "I need to call my friends. They'll be wondering where I am…"

"We were wondering where you were!" Jon walked back into the lab, his PokéVu at his ear. Surprised by the Nidorino standing before him, he stopped in his tracks and looked between Jess, David, and Professor Monday.

"Is that Ciarra?" Jess was grateful for the interruption.

Jon nodded wordlessly at her before he replied to Ciarra, "All right. Take care, and get here as soon as you can, okay? Cool. Love you, too. Bye." He hung up.

"Well?"

"She's fine. She just got sidetracked at… Shoal Cave, was it?"

David's eyebrows, and maybe even his ears, perked up. "Shoal Cave?" he exclaimed. "Please don't tell me she's inside."

Jon paused and blinked. "Okay, I won't."

With a groan, David implored Professor Monday in an urgent tone, "Professor, can we borrow the TARDIS?"

Jess and Jon chorused, "The _what_?"

Monday nodded and tossed David a set of keys from the pockets of his lab coat. He then addressed the two confused trainers. "Tremendously Agile Rocket-Driven Insular Ship. It's at the marina."

Jon made a face. "Oh! So that's what that thing was…"

"Come on!" David dashed towards the exit, motioning for Jess and Jon to come, Nidorino hot on his feet.

"Where are we going?" Jess's mind was running as fast as they were. "Is Ciarra in trouble?"

David replied, "She will be if the tide gets to her before we do!"

As they burst through the main doors of the Mossdeep Space Center, Jon's eyes grew wide. "Wait, the tide? It's barely four in the afternoon! The high tide comes in later tonight, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but with the waves the way they are," started David, the group weaving through the tourists down the hill, running for the piers, "the sea levels are bound to be just as unpredictable. For all we know, the tide could be high for twenty-four hours…"

Nearing the marina, Jess nearly tripped over a three-year-old and her Pichu, hastily apologizing to her mother. Then, to David, she admitted, "I have to say, you're much more observant that you let on, David!"

David clicked his tongue behind a wide grin and he shouted, "There!"

He pointed at a sleek, navy, fiberglass speedboat with a rocket engine in the rear. It shone under the afternoon sun, giving a bit of glare. It was conveniently parked in a spot nearest to the Space Center among the rest of the Space Center's fleet of boats.

As David, Jess, and Jon and David's Nidorino jumped in, Jess asked, noticing the complicated dashboard and controls of the boat, "Do you even know how to drive this thing?

David tossed the key into the air before thrusting it into the ignition and turning it, laughing, "Nope! But it's more fun that way! Here we go! _Allons-y_!"

"Ciarra, get out of there!"

Abruptly pausing his catch-up story, Liam pulled Ciarra out of another downward sloping tunnel which was rapidly filling up with water. Ciarra stumbled up into the cavern room that they were in, thanking Liam for his help.

"Did that ice down there melt or something? That water came out of nowhere!"

But Liam wasn't listening. "Ciarra, grab your shopping and go!"

"Wait, what?"

"Go!"

The water was suddenly flooding the room. The tide pools were filling up and the uncollected Shoal Salts on the ground were washed away. The water level was rising so quickly that Ciarra could barely process what was happening. If the two of them stuck around, they would drown in the narrow passages of Shoal Cave.

"The tunnel!" Ciarra was frantically searching for their previous entrance. "It's gone!"

"It's probably flooded in," fumed Liam as he and Ciarra climbed up the sparkling boulder, away from the water. He pulled out a Pokéball and let out his Spheal who rolled around in the shallow water creeping up to them. "Spheal, freeze the water, now!"

"Spheal!"

A ball of blue light appeared in front of Spheal's open mouth and several beams stormed out of it, solidifying the water around them. It worked to some degree. The water level stopped rising but there was still the sound of trickling water echoing against the cave walls. The ice wouldn't be able to hold the tide forever.

"That should buy us more time."

"My clothes!"

Ciarra's purchases from the Lilycove Department Store were ruined. They were swallowed by the water and were currently frozen under the ice. She wanted to lunge for them, hopefully rescue them somehow, but she didn't dare risk breaking the ice and perhaps endanger them even more.

"I can replace them for you," Liam said nonchalantly, eyeing the cave walls for some form of escape.

The tension of a potentially life-threatening event was unmatched by the tension Ciarra felt about Liam's unrequited love for her. With a wary voice, she asked, "Why would you do that?"

"I think you know why."

Ciarra sighed, "Liam, let's not… not now…"

"I could have given you everything, Ciarra."

_Ciarra's eyes were betraying her. She could feel the salty tears well up before her eyes. With cloudy vision, she addressed her boyfriend with a soft-spoken question. "What can you give me?"_

_Brad was still strumming on his guitar. He was playing a song. "Granted, I can't give you cars, or furs… or diamonds. I don't have a yacht or anything like that…"_

_She wiped her tears on the back of her hand which was viciously clutching at her new and final Glacier Badge. "Answer the question." It was meant to be uttered fiercely, but her tightening chest let her barely croak it out._

_At last, Brad put down his guitar on his lap and looked at Ciarra. His words fell from his lips carefully as he chose his words. _

"_I'll give you… days full of dreams if you travel my way. A life that nothing can beat… I'll give you the stars and the moon… A soul to guide you… and the promise I'll never go."_

Ciarra couldn't say anything, Liam's face dangerously close to hers. She could almost feel his breath. It wasn't the same tempting feeling she would experience years ago. It wasn't tantalizing, it was painful.

"Liam, no."

He pulled away obediently, though Liam's eyes were still looking into Ciarra's with a desperate longing and need. The boy was about to say something when the sound of crushing and drilling echoed into the cavernous room. Rocks came tumbling down from the ceiling, shattering the frozen water below and creating a gaping hole for the water to seep and climb through.

"Shit, the cave is collapsing!"

But Ciarra saw something that Liam didn't. "Is that a horn?"

Following a cascade of stalactites, rubble, and dirt, a Nidorino tumbled down from the ceiling, landing in the now exposed rising water with a splash. It ran around in a circle before making its way over to the boulder Liam and Ciarra were seated on.

"Ni-do!"

"Do you recognize it?" Liam questioned Ciarra directly.

Ciarra shook her head, utterly confused, her eyes on the leaking ground. "No! My friend Jon had a Nidorino, I know that, but it's evolved into a Nidoking. I've never met this particular one before…"

"Is she down there, Nidorino?" called a voice Ciarra did not recognize from above, bouncing through the tunnel the Nidorino burrowed in the ceiling.

The Nidorino cried out in an affirmative tone. Another voice rejoined, "All right, Gallade! Teleport down there and get Ciarra out!"

"Jon?"

There was a flash of light and Jon's Gallade appeared before Ciarra and Liam. Tall and thin, he extended a blade-like arm to Ciarra, expecting her to take it. The Nidorino barked at them and spun around in another circle, stumbling over shards of ice and running into the boulder.

Ciarra had jumped off the boulder, careful not to slip in the icy water, and was just about to accept Gallade's hand when a bright glow began emanating from Nidorino.

Liam was forced to leap off as well. "It's evolving!"

Within moments, the water was up to their waists and where Nidorino was standing was a full-fledged Nidoking. It roared and lifted the boulder it came into contact with and used it to plug the water hole in the ice they were standing on. The mammoth rock had lost its sparkle and shine and looked plainer than before.

"That was a Moon Stone? A giant Moon Stone?" Ciarra was now bewildered beyond comprehension. She turned to Liam, who was equally dumbfounded. "And whose Nidorino-- Nido_king_ is that?"

Liam shrugged.

Ciarra climbed up the rock and screeched into the excavated tunnel in the ceiling of the cave. "What the fuck is going on here?"

"Just fucking grab my Gallade so we can teleport you out of there!"

A third voice spoke. "And who's there with you, Ciarra?"

However, Ciarra didn't answer Jess and addressed Liam instead. She took one of Gallade's hands and commanded the boy, "Come on."

Hesitantly, Liam accepted Gallade's other outstretched hand.

Ciarra felt Gallade turn on the spot and for a moment, the air around them compressed their bodies with the pressure and weight of a thousand Wailord. She couldn't open her eyes, but when she was finally able to, Ciarra found herself on the short beach outside Shoal Cave, accompanied by Liam, Jess, Jon, Jon's Gallade, and an older boy she did not know.

The sun was painting the sky a faint pink mixed in with the pale blues. It was getting late. She didn't know how long she had been sidetracked inside the cave. Granted, almost drowning to death and having a boy blast from the past could certainly make the time fly by.

"Is that your Pokémon down there?" Ciarra asked the boy she had never met.

"Return!" The boy held out his Pokéball, retrieving the Poison Point Pokémon through the hollowed out hole in the side of the cave via a jet of red light. He nodded eagerly at Ciarra. "I heard you say it evolved?"

As Ciarra said yes, Jess smacked her hand to her forehead yet again.

"I knew it!" he rejoiced. "I'm David, by the way."

David proceeded to taunt Jess, who asked, "Who's your friend, Ciarra?"

"He's--"

"About to leave," Liam cut across Ciarra.

An mix of surprise and sadness and relief struck Ciarra's weary face all at once. Liam's was stony once again, identical to the expression he wore when they first ran into each other hours ago.

"Why?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence among strangers.

"It's late. I need to catch the next ferry to Dewford Town. I need to be back at Rustboro by morning." Liam chose a Pokéball from his pocket and released a Lapras into the noticeably higher waters. It crooned softly as Liam climbed onto its back. "Thanks… whoever saved us."

"You're welcome!"

"Jon, shh!"

Ciarra ignored them. "Are you… well, good-bye then."

Liam only gave her a curt nod. "Have a nice life."

David and Jess didn't wait until Liam's silhouette had gone over the horizon. They launched into an explanation that Jon didn't listen to as he found a Snorunt at the entrance of Shoal Cave. Ciarra tried her best to pay attention. While her mind wandered to thoughts of ex-boyfriends, Ciarra caught some of what Jess and David were prattling on about.

Apparently, the recent meteor showers were gigantic extraterrestrial rocks in outer space that were exposed to the elemental essence of the moon, or whatever it was. These enormous stray Moon Stones were pulled in by gravity causing the showers. Imbibed with qualities of the moon, the meteorites that landed in the ocean randomly shifted the tides as the regular moon would, causing the extremely unpredictable waters in Hoenn and Kanto.

A prime example was the boulder in Shoal Cave, which made the tides and water within it rise against its regular schedule. Since David's Nidorino has used the giant Moon Stone to evolve, it should stop influencing the waters in the cave and it should revert to normal again.

That explained the waters, that explained the meteorites, but it didn't explain why Ciarra wanted the moon.

"Wow, that's pretty epic, Ci."

Ciarra had just finished recounting to Jess and Jon her eventful afternoon. The trio was on one of the balconies of the Mossdeep Space Center, gazing out over the cliff the building was situated on. There was a pleasant sea breeze brushing through the air, making the hem of Jess's purple silk wrap dress flutter and Jon's neatly styled hair sway. The moon was full against the silhouette of a Wingull which flew past and squawked.

"Oh, I never got to tell you," began Ciarra, "but great presentation tonight, Jessy."

Jess smiled, "Thank you. Was it better than David's?"

After a sip of his Riesling, Jon said, "Totally. Rocks trump Pokémon evolution any day of the week."

They laughed. Ciarra added, "I actually thought it was really sweet how he referred to some of your research."

"It's how nerds flirt."

Jon insisted, "Yeah, seriously, Jess. He seems like a genuinely nice guy. I don't know why you're being…"

Ciarra suggested, "Apprehensive?"

"Well, I was gonna say 'a bitch,' but that works, too."

Jess chuckled before confessing, "I don't know. I guess the idea of being matched at science by another person was just so foreign to me that I didn't know how to react? And by a man, no less."

Scoffing, Jon joked before downing his wine, "Oh you're so modest."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"No, she's right," maintained Ciarra. She then lilted, "But he seems to like you though!"

A little bit of color rose to Jess's cheeks. "You think so?"

Ciarra asserted, "More than five citations in his presentation were to you, Jessy. It's love."

"Eh, who knows?" Jess remarked. "I'll be studying here with him for two more weeks. A few lunches or a dinner couldn't hurt, could it?"

Jon advised, "But make sure he cites you in his research at least five more times before you sleep with him. Cardinal rule, remember."

More laughter. Mulling it over, Jess mused, "It _is_ difficult to find a guy like that. Smart…"

Ciarra noted, "Gorgeous…"

"And _great_ hair." Ciarra and Jess looked at Jon, amused. "Some… _really_ great hair."

"You're not talking about me are you?"

The three of them whipped around to see Steven, clad in a suit similar to the one Jon was wearing, leaning against the open arched double doors into the ballroom. He walked over to join them momentarily. As the orchestra in the ballroom played a waltz, Steven offered a hand to Jon and grinned at him expectantly.

"May I have this dance, Mister McDougal?"

Jon smiled apologetically at his boyfriend and answered, "Sorry, Stevie. I'm with the girls. Maybe later?"

"Of course." Steven kissed Jon on the lips and said, "Let me take this for you." He gently took the empty wine glass in Jon's hand and winked at him before going back inside.

"Good God," sighed Jess. "What kind of tricks did you pull to bag him?"

Jon shrugged casually, though it was difficult to conceal a wide grin.

There was silence save for the crashing of the waves on the beach below them and the buzz of socialites and scientists in the ballroom inside. The breeze picked up. Ciarra adjusted the dress she borrowed from Elissa and leaned on the balcony again.

The girls Keeley and Elissa were at the Mossdeep Space Center early and Elissa was Ciarra's saving grace. They were the same size and she brought an extra dress for the occasion, just in case. When they learned that Jess was one of the speakers, Elissa was more than happy to lend Ciarra her extra green dress. It irked Ciarra that she lost her shopping at Shoal Cave. The dress, a new pair of jeans, a scarf, and that planner.

"Hey Ci."

"Hmm?"

Jon tentatively asked, "Why did you break up with Brad?"

It didn't sting as much as she thought it would. Maybe because she was slowly getting over it, maybe because she had her two best friends beside her to ease the pain. Jon looked like he was on death row for asking the question and Jess's brow was furrowed in anxiety.

"Guys, I'm fine. It's fine." She felt the two of them relax. "Really, it's cool. Water under the bridge."

Ciarra paused to find the right words. The proper phrasing. Because in all honesty, Ciarra herself wasn't sure what the answer to the question was.

"I thought I could do better."

Jess scratched the back of her neck. "Er, what do you mean?"

"Like, look at Jon."

"Whuh?"

Letting out a tiny laugh, Ciarra said, "Remember that party we were at in Blackthorn City?"

Jon loosened his black tie. "Lance's birthday? Yeah, what about it?"

"You and Steven were amazing that night," revealed Ciarra. "You two looked so perfect together at that party and everyone there, all the guests were so smitten with you both that I thought to myself that I wanted that. I wanted to do better than Brad. More than just Brad."

Jess bit her lip as Jon professed, "Our relationships are… uh, _were_ different." He put an arm around Ciarra and continued. "You and Brad were exciting… and there was never a dull moment. Sure, Steven may have connections and a couple of yachts and a summer house here in Mossdeep--"

"Not helping, Jon," stated Jess.

"And that was what I wanted from him." Ciarra heaved a deep sigh. "I wanted all those things from Brad, but I just never realized what he could have given me. And now I can never have them…"

Jess and Jon exchanged glances as Ciarra's eyes started to water. Jon tightened his arm around Ciarra as Jess leaned her head on Ciarra's shoulder. The only things Ciarra could feel were the warmth of her two closest companions, the tears in her eyes, and the clenching of her heart.

"I'll never have the moon."

* * *

**A/N:** Comments, feedback, reviews, _**constructive**_ (I cannot emphasize that enough) criticism... anything is appreciated. Thank you.


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